Poll: 17% of Voters Still Think Obama Is A Muslim

Most voters continue to say it is important for a president to have strong religious beliefs. But voters have limited awareness of the religious faiths of both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. And there is little evidence to suggest that concerns about the candidates' respective faiths will have a meaningful impact in the fall elections.

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press finds that 60% of voters are aware that Romney is Mormon, virtually unchanged from four months ago.

The vast majority of those who are aware of Romney's faith say it doesn't concern them. Fully eight-in-ten voters who know Romney is Mormon say they are either comfortable with his faith (60%) or that it doesn't matter to them (21%).

The survey also finds that nearly four years into his presidency the view that Barack Obama is Muslim persists. Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim; 49% say he is Christian, while 31% say they do not know Obama's religion. The percentage of voters identifying Obama's religion as Christian has increased since August 2010, from 38% to 49%, while there has been little change in the percentage saying he is Muslim (19% then, 17% today). Still, fewer say Obama is Christian – and more say he is Muslim – than did so in October 2008, near the end of the last presidential campaign. The increase since 2008 is particularly concentrated among conservative Republicans, about a third of whom (34%) describe the president as a Muslim.

Overall, 45% of voters say they are comfortable with Obama's religion, while 19% are uncomfortable. Among those who say Obama is Christian, 82% are comfortable with Obama's religious beliefs. Among those who describe him as a Muslim, just 26% are comfortable with his beliefs.

See the full report.

The Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life conducts surveys, demographic analyses and other social science research on important aspects of religion and public life in the U.S. and around the world. As part of the Washington-based Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan, non-advocacy organization, the Pew Forum does not take positions on policy debates or any of the issues it covers.

 

SOURCE Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press